President Biden will tell members of Congress on Wednesday night that he has turned the tide on “a nation in crisis” and placed it on a path toward fairness, justice and prosperity — all within his first 100 days in office.
Biden plans to offer the panoramic view of his accomplishments and goals as he takes the House dais for his first address to a joint session of Congress on the eve of his 100th day as president, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the White House beforehand.
“We are just one day shy of the 100th day of my administration,100 days since I took the oath of office — lifted my hand off our family Bible — and inherited a nation in crisis,” Biden says in the excerpts.
“The worst pandemic in a century. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. Now — after just 100 days — I can report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
In contrast to Biden’s upbeat assessment, reminders of the COVID-19 pandemic will be present in the House chamber, which was overrun by a far-right mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6.
Only 200 lawmakers will be allowed in for Biden’s highly-anticipated remarks to prevent the spread of the virus that has killed more than 570,000 Americans. Lawmakers will be required to wear face masks at all times and are not allowed to bring guests.
The speech comes as Biden’s administration is on pace to achieve its goal of vaccinating the U.S. out of the pandemic by the end of this year after pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the immunization effort.
Beyond the pandemic, Biden is expected to dedicate a major chunk of his speech to the “American Families Plan,” his newly-unveiled $1.8 trillion plan for reforming the U.S. economy and making it better geared toward helping low and middle-income parents and children.
The sweeping package proposes to implement universal preschool and two years of free community college for all Americans while investing $225 billion in child care and monthly payments of at least $250 to qualifying parents. The plan contains hundreds of billions of more dollars for other education and child care efforts, with a particular focus on women and people of color.
“We have to prove democracy still works. That our government still works — and can deliver for the people,” Biden says in the excerpts. “In our first 100 days together, we have acted to restore the people’s faith in our democracy to deliver. We’re vaccinating the nation. We’re creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. We’re delivering real results people can see and feel in their own lives. Opening the doors of opportunity. Guaranteeing fairness and justice.”
But Biden’s family plan is drawing stiff opposition from Republicans — few of whom plan to attend Wednesday night’s speech because of the capacity limits.
Republicans are especially upset by Biden’s proposal to pay for the sweeping $1.8 trillion investment by hiking taxes on the nation’s wealthiest, including reversing some of former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Without GOP support, the plan faces stiff odds in passing Congress, where Democrats control both chambers by thin margins.
Before the White House rolled out the $1.8 trillion blueprint, Republicans were already balking at a $2.3 trillion infrastructure package floated by Biden as well as the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan he signed into law last month without any GOP backing.
But Biden plans to use his nationally-televised address Wednesday night to make his pitch directly to the American people, whom he’s confident will back his agenda.
“Wall Street didn’t build this country,” he will say. “The middle class built this country.”
Source (Ny Daily news)